The invention relates to a system for generating printed mail pieces, starting from a print file, and to a computer program code for controlling a control unit of such a system.
It has long been known, for instance from European patent specifications 0 404 264 and 0 628 357, starting from digital data that define a document, to control not only a printer, but also a processing device for processing printed material into mail pieces.
From practice it is known for a print file—which can, for instance, have been obtained from an office application such as a word processing program or a program for financial management and which, with or without using a mail merge function, can contain several documents—to be supplemented, before being sent, with processing data for the processing device, to form a processed print file. To that end, the control unit is controlled by processing code which is settable by setting dialogue code which in a window shows a menu with options for setting the processing code. The setting dialogue presents, for instance, the option of packaging documents in an envelope or not. The processing code is set in accordance with the selection entered, and operatively processes the rough print file, which, in principle, is intended for controlling a printer, through supplementation at the correct places, to form a processed file which contains instructions for the printer and for the processing unit
There is a tendency that more and more possibilities of finishing printed documents are being created. The variety of wishes on the part of users of such systems then increases accordingly. The origin of address data which are to be printed on an envelope can, for instance, differ from one user to another, depending on applications and sources of data used by those users. Further, there are differences in the requirements which processing code should preferably meet for different users, for instance in the field of franking, selectively adding inserts and selectively choosing from different envelopes. Using external services as address verification, whereby access to the address data can be obtained in greatly different manners, and franking using on-line services are further examples of the many processing possibilities that occur
As a consequence of all this, it is problematic to provide a processing code which is settable in accordance with the large variety of requirements that occurs. Apart from the efforts this requires, one problem is that the processing code, according as it offers more possibilities, becomes more sizeable and slower and the risk of malfunctions increases. Moreover, the operation of the settings of the processing code becomes complicated and laborious.